


Goodbye Stranger

by ArtisticallyReadyandEnthused



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Language, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 23:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11542749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisticallyReadyandEnthused/pseuds/ArtisticallyReadyandEnthused
Summary: Keith and Shiro's relationship was far from perfect. They had their bumps along the way, but they were young. They would learn and grow from their troubles. At least this is what Keith thought...and he wished it could have been what Shiro thought too.





	Goodbye Stranger

_“Sweet devotion, it's not for me._ _Just give me motion and set me free…”_

 

Keith didn’t want Shiro to leave…

 

It was quiet that morning. Keith wondered if the dessert had heard their screams from last night. The walls of the empty shack still echoed the hurtful words the two had spat out at each other during the heat of everything. It seemed only appropriate that the morning held reverence for them and that everything would stay still. But there was one who still moved against the calm of the morning.

Keith chewed on his fingernails as a distraction of Shiro; currently tossing his belongings into his old duffle bag. As he winced and tore the nail from his finger, he wondered what had happened between them.

 

He liked to think that their story could have been a great one to share. Keith still remembers the jolt in his heart when he first saw Shiro amongst the second years greeting him the first day of school at the Garrison. As fate would have it, they found ways to keep seeing each other; classes, dormitories just a few doors away from each other, strange coincidences in finding each other on the roof of the Garrison. Keith knew that Shiro didn’t fall for him right away, but when he did, he fell hard.

At least, that’s what Keith thought.

 

Their relationship was far from perfect, but it was contentment in Keith’s eyes. To him, it was the closest he would ever come to happiness again. Sure, sometimes Shiro had a tendency to forget that it’s not ok to ditch on date night to hang out with friends, and he didn’t understand why Keith was so insistent on holding his hand all the time. But Keith knew that with enough push and determination, they could work through their problems.

“Try slowing down Keith,” Shiro shrugged when Keith proposed the idea of rooming together for his last year at the Garrison. “Sure it would be fun and everything, but we might lose sight of what’s important at the end.”

“Like that science mission they’re planning in a couple of years?” Keith scoffed. “Please, if you think that living together is going to ruin your shot at that—”

“Can’t risk it Baby,” Shiro kissed his forehead and then left to finish his class registry.

Keith hated to wait. During Shiro’s final year that’s all Keith did. He waited for Shiro to show after classes for their dates. He waited for him to call on him first. He waited for him to think about him. He waited…but he grew tired of it.

When Keith found out, from a first year student, that Shiro was chosen as a candidate for the Kerberos mission, that’s when the line was drawn.

 

“You don’t care at all do you?!”

“I do care! You’re just never around for me to prove it to you!”

“And who’s fault is that?!”

“I don’t know! But it sure as _hell_ isn’t mine!”

Keith wished he could have kept his mouth shut, but here they were. What should have been a romantic week at the old dessert shack they had discovered one summer long ago had boiled down to days of tension and one final night of bitter emotions. There comes a point when a person can only take so much. And for some reason, hearing that Shiro would be leaving for training the day before his birthday was that breaking point for Keith.

“I can’t believe you, I really can’t!” Keith balled his fists in his hands. “You should at _least_ act like you give a shit about us!”

“I’ve been busy Keith! What am I supposed to do?!”

“Make time like anyone else would?!”

“Well why can’t you be happy about this like anyone else?!”

“How?! How am I supposed to be happy when you’re fucking gone all the damn time?!”

“This is huge for me Keith! Why are you so damn selfish?!”

“I- _I’m_ selfish?! I’m the one who’s giving a shit about us! I’m the one who keeps trying! I’m the one who cares whether we stay together or not! I don’t even think you love me anymore!”

_“I don’t!”_

Keith felt as though someone punched him straight in the gut. His mouth hung open as Shiro’s anger slowly melted into regret.

“I don’t… I don’t love you Keith… I never really did…”The punches kept coming with each word that came out of Shiro’s mouth. “It felt like the right thing to do at the time, and I thought I could learn to love you. I thought I did for a while, but… I’m sorry.”

It was so fast how Keith’s world came crumbling down into nothingness. He didn’t imagine the conversation to end like this. He didn’t imagine _them_ to end like this. He thought that they could let out their emotions and then work through it together. That’s how it usually worked, wasn’t it?

The sun was still hidden behind the eastern mountains when watch on Shiro’s wrist began beeping. A signal that it was time to wake-up and start packing for his Kerberos training. Shiro brushed passed Keith to go search for his things. Keith numbly walked over to the couch and sat on the end that was furthest away from Shiro.

 

Keith didn’t want Shiro to leave…but it was too late…

 

The shack was filled with a soft orange glow once Shiro finished packing. Keith trudged behind Shiro to the red motorbike they used to travel with. Keith didn’t want to drop him off at the Garrison… he didn’t want to be anywhere near Shiro at the moment. But Keith would need the bike back to get around.

Keith didn’t want to touch him, but Shiro insisted that Keith stay alive by taking his hands and wrapping it around his middle. Keith wanted it to mean something… but it was probably more out of Shiro not wanting to explain why his classmate had ended up dead before his mission training.

In the silence of the drive, Keith began to blame himself for everything. He should have waited more. He shouldn’t have jumped on Shiro so much. Why didn’t Shiro love him? Was it something he did? What could he have done differently? If he had kept his mouth shut and not said anything, would they still be together? Did he really think he deserved someone as wonderful as Shiro? Some pathetic loser who didn’t have a family or anything to look forward to?

As the Garrison came into view, Keith wrapped his arms tighter around Shiro. He wanted to go back. He wanted to go back to the nights of star gazing on the roof of the Garrison. Go back to training practice and laughing over failed flight simulations. Go and have one more horrible lunch date at the cafeteria. Go and make-out in the janitor’s closet in between classes. Go and—

“Keith, can you let go?” Shiro asked. Keith sucked in air through his teeth when he realized they had stopped. He did as the other requested and slid into the main seat of the bike. Shiro quickly unhooked his duffle from the bike and waved at some of the other pilot candidates. He reluctantly turned his attention back to Keith, and Keith reluctantly looked Shiro in the eyes.

He wished there was something in his eyes. A lingering spark of love, or a glimmer of compassion. But there was nothing. It was as though he was looking into the eyes of a stranger. Someone new who he just barely met. The fake smile and half hearted hug didn’t help much either.

“Bye Keith,” Shiro said.

“Goodbye Shiro,” Keith muttered. “I hope you find whatever the hell you’re looking for.”Before Shiro could have a chance to reply, the engine of the motorbike roared to life and Keith sped off back to the shack.

 

_“Feel no sorrow, feel no shame, come tomorrow, feel no pain...”_

 

 

It was third period when he found out. How it took him so long to find out was a mystery to him, but it didn’t matter. He went sprinting down the hallway when he heard. He barged into the director’s office and demanded to know the truth. He wrestled against the strong hands that dragged him out of the office and fought the tears that threatened to fall.

One year after that night in the shack, Keith thought that his feelings for Shiro would be gone. He thought he had moved on and could accept what had happened between them. Accept that they were just too young and too different to really work as a couple. But everything came crashing down on him when the Kerberos team…when _Shiro_ was pronounced dead. 

 

Keith didn’t want Shiro to leave… but it was too late to ask him to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic had been buzzing around my head since I listened to Supertramp's song with the same title of this story. I...I'm sorry for hurting you Keith...


End file.
